INTERVIEW: Incoming Producing Artistic Director Rod Kaats and Ordway President/CEO Jamie Grant on the Future of the Ordway Arts Dance Music Theatre by Basil Considine - January 22, 2018January 22, 2018 Rod Kaats, the incoming producing artistic director at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. There were big tap shoes to fill at the Ordway when James Rocco announced last year that he would step down as Vice President of Programming and Producing Artistic Director. On Thursday, the Ordway Center for
TOP 10: Basil Considine’s Favorite Twin Cities Stage Performances of 2017 Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Basil Considine - January 12, 2018January 12, 2018 Brittany Bellizeare as Pecola (foreground) in the Guthrie Theater's production of The Bluest Eye. Photo by Dan Norman. During the 2017 calendar year, I saw more than 150 theatre performances. That tally excludes shows that I directed and dance-only performances, but includes spoken theatre, musicals, opera, improv, and pretty much anything
INTERVIEW: Sarah Rasmussen on the Jungle Theater’s New Season Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - January 8, 2018January 8, 2018 A promotional image for the Jungle Theater's upcoming production of Ishmael. It's been several winters – and, some would say right now, not enough summers – since the Jungle Theater announced the appointment of Sarah Rasmussen as its new artistic director in March 2015. At the time, the native of Sisseton,
INTERVIEW: Elena Giannetti, The Last Five Years, and Creating Directing Spaces Arts Music Theatre by Basil Considine - January 5, 2018January 5, 2018 A promotional photo for Artistry's upcoming production of The Last Five Years showing Cathy (Aly Westberg O’Keeffe) and Jamie (Ryan London Levin). Photo by Devon Cox/Artistry. One of the archtypical cult musicals of the early 20th century is Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years. This two-person show tells the story of a
TOP 10: Bev Wolfe’s 10 Best Plays and Musicals of 2017 Arts Dance Music Theatre by Bev Wolfe - January 4, 2018January 4, 2018 A less happy moment between Eisinin (Sergei Andreev) and Duncan (Lisa Channer) in Theatre Novi Most's production of Dancing on the Edge. In reading through the top 10 lists of other reviewers, I realized there were a lot of great shows that I missed this year. The Twin Cities is blessed with
REVIEW: The Tech and Design Sides of Annie (Ordway) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Bev Wolfe - December 31, 2017January 4, 2018 The presidential cabinet: Kersten Rodau, Adam Qualls, Randy Schmeling, Bill Scharpen, Carl Schoenborn, and Charles Fraser in Annie. Photo by Rich Ryan. A locally produced holiday production of Annie is ending is its run at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Since its original opening on Broadway in 1977, Annie
FEATURE: The Chandelier in The Phantom of the Opera Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - December 21, 2017December 21, 2017 The chandelier used in the current Broadway production of The Phantom of the Opera. The current touring show chandelier is proportionally taller and emphasizes other details of the model chandeliers at the Paris Opera. Read Basil Considine's review of The Phantom of the Opera. At the height of the first megamusical craze,
REVIEW: Darkly Beautiful Phantom of the Opera‘s Triumphant Return (Orpheum/Hennepin Theatre Trust) Arts Dance Music Theatre Visual Arts by Basil Considine - December 19, 2017December 21, 2017 Christine (Eva Tavares) and Raoul (Jordan Craig) snatch a kiss in the Broadway tour of The Phantom of the Opera. Photo by Matthew Murphy. They say you never forget your first love. This is at the crux of The Phantom of the Opera's plot, and even more so in its sequel Love Never Dies.
REVIEW: A Very Die Hard Christmas Strikes Back (Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater) Arts Music Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - December 16, 2017December 21, 2017 Josh Carson is John McClane in A Very Die Hard Christmas, a show that features movie jokes, pop culture references, a talking snowman, and more. Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? Believe it or not, this question has acquired significant attention on the Internet, with even Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau weighing
WEEKEND PICKS: Chess, Berbers, Amahl, A Very Die Hard Christmas Arts Dance Music Opera Theatre by Twin Cities Arts Reader - December 11, 2017December 11, 2017 A promotional image for A Very Die Hard Christmas at Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater. Weather this week vacillates between the 20s and 30s, but will rise above freezing as the weekend arrives. Here are the weekend's picks for getting out and about: Thursday, 12/14 Head down to the Minneapolis Institute of Art to see Amazigh